There have been good and bad things this year. The good have far outnumbered the bad, and really, the only bad thing that happened to me, is that I got sarcoptic mange. Sarcoptic mange is a nasty thing. It is caused by little teeny, tiny creatures that can't even be seen, but boy, do they make a guy miserable! What they did was make me itch like crazy, and then they made my hair fall out! Believe me, it's just totally NOT cool for a dark brown puppy to look like he's had his legs waxed! Not cool at all....
My veterinarian gave mom some medicine to make the mange go away, and I had to sit very quietly in the bathtub while mom poured the stuff all over me. It had to be done several times, and even though I smelled like rotten eggs after the baths which mom called my "stinky baths", mom and dad still loved me. It's not easy to love a dog that stinks, and who also made the house stink too... But they did, and thank the lucky dog star, the mange is all long gone now, and all is well...(plus my legs look normal again!)

The good things that have happened are that I have learned lots of things!

I learned how to retrieve..(although that's pretty much a no-brainer for a Lab!) Dad says that it's a curse as well as a blessing,because it's all I want to do when he comes home from work at night.

I also have learned how to catch...and I'll catch almost anything that's thrown to me. My human brother Dave taught me how, and it's kind of a curse/blessing too, as I will catch and retrieve things longer than anyone wants to play catch with me!

I've learned that socks go on human's feet in the morning, and they come off the feet at night. Helping get the socks off is one of my best talents. While I was learning how to do it, there were a few socks sacrificed to the learning process..(sometimes I ripped holes in them.)

I have learned that the water comes out of the bathtub faucet much colder and fresher than the water in my water dish. So, when I'm thirsty, I simply go into the bathroom and bark at the bathtub. Sooner or later, someone comes in and turns the faucet on for me.

I've also learned that an 80 pound dog should not climb onto the extended foot rest of a recliner. It causes snapping sounds, and grumpy words from my dad when he has to repair the chair.

I've learned that pushing against my dad while he and mom are in bed sleeping, (with me laying between them) will eventually cause my dad to get out of bed and spend the rest of the night in the recliner in the livingroom. I also have another annoying habit in bed, which mom calls the Lab Flop. I turn around twice and then throw my entire 80 pounds of weight against the nearest sleeping human. It tends to make them a non-sleeping human almost immediately, but if they don't wake up, they move closer to their edge of the bed, and by morning, I have almost the entire bed to myself. Since mom is the one I don't seem to be able to wake up as easily, she is sleeping on what's left of the bed, which is about four inches. If she gets up and moves to another bed, I just follow her, and the whole thing starts over again.

They are good natured about the whole thing..and I do realize that I am extremely lucky they've not made me sleep in the garage.

I have learned that "GO LAY DOWN", really means, "You had better go lay down, Cody, because I am at the end of my rope. I have one nerve left, and you're getting on it, so you'd best not push your luck much further!"

I then go and lay down.

I've learned too, that the food my parents eat is far more tasty than the food they feed me.